York.…”
“On a liberal allowance.”
“Depends on your idea of liberal; now what about the murder?”
“They think, the police think, Pomeroy did it?”
“So?”
“Did he?”
“How should I know? Why don’t you ask him?”
“I thought you said you knew who did it.”
She laughed, “Did I say that? I must’ve been lit … or maybe
you
were lit … which reminds me will you push that bell over there. It’s getting near teatime and I’m developing that funny parched feeling.” I pushed the mother-of-pearl button.
“Who do you think did it?”
“My darling Peter, I’m not sure that even if I did know I would tell you. I realize that’s an unnatural way to feel about the murderer of your own father but I’m not a very natural girl, as you well know … or maybe
too
natural, which is about the same thing. If somebody disliked Father enough to kill him I’m not at all sure that I would interfere. I have no feeling at all about him, about my father I mean. I never forgave him for that annulment … not that I was so much in love, though I thought I was, being young and silly, but rather because he had tried to interfere with me and that’s one thing I can’t stand. Anyway he was not very lovable, as you probably gathered, and when I could getaway from home I did. I still don’t know what on earth prompted me to come down here with you. I guess I was awfully high at Cambridge and it seemed like a fun idea. I regretted the whole thing the second I woke up on that train but it was too late to go back.” The butler interrupted the first serious talk I had ever had with Ellen and, by the time half a Scotch mist had given her strength to face the afternoon, she was herself again and our serious moment was over.
“What do you know about the Pomeroys?” I asked when the butler had disappeared.
“What everybody knows. They’re not that mysterious. He came to Talisman City in the late Thirties and set up a factory … I suppose he had some capital to start with … he manufactured explosives. When the war came along he made a lot of money and the factory grew very big and he grew with it, got to be quite a power politically. Then the war ended, business fell off and he lost his contract with the government, or so I was told yesterday.”
“By whom?”
“By my father.” She paused thoughtfully; then she swallowed the rest of the Scotch.
“Did he … did your father seem nervous to you?”
“You know, Peter, you’re beginning to sound like that police Lieutenant … only not as pretty.”
“I’ve got a job to do,” I said, and I explained to her about the
Globe
, told her that she had to help me, that I needed someone who could give me the necessary facts about the people involved.
“You’re an awfully fast operator,” she said.
“That makes two of us.”
She laughed; then she sat down beside me on the couch. “I’m afraid I’ve been away too long to be much help … besides, you know what I think or rather what I
don’t
think about politics.”
“I have a hunch that the murder doesn’t have anything to do with politics.”
“Your guess is as good as anybody’s,” said Ellen and she helped herself to another drink.
“What about Mrs. Pomeroy?”
“What about her?”
“What’s her relationship to your family … I gather she knew the Senator before she married Pomeroy.”
“That’s right. I remember her as a child … when I was a child, that is. She’s about twenty years older than I am, though I’m sure she’d never admit that, even to her plastic surgeon.”
“Plastic surgeon?”
“Yes, darling; she’s had her face lifted … don’t you know about those things? There are two little scars near her ears, under the hair.…”
“How was I supposed to see those?”
“
I
noticed them; I know all about those things. But that’s beside the point. She’s been around ever since I can remember. Her family were very close to
“On a liberal allowance.”
“Depends on your idea of liberal; now what about the murder?”
“They think, the police think, Pomeroy did it?”
“So?”
“Did he?”
“How should I know? Why don’t you ask him?”
“I thought you said you knew who did it.”
She laughed, “Did I say that? I must’ve been lit … or maybe
you
were lit … which reminds me will you push that bell over there. It’s getting near teatime and I’m developing that funny parched feeling.” I pushed the mother-of-pearl button.
“Who do you think did it?”
“My darling Peter, I’m not sure that even if I did know I would tell you. I realize that’s an unnatural way to feel about the murderer of your own father but I’m not a very natural girl, as you well know … or maybe
too
natural, which is about the same thing. If somebody disliked Father enough to kill him I’m not at all sure that I would interfere. I have no feeling at all about him, about my father I mean. I never forgave him for that annulment … not that I was so much in love, though I thought I was, being young and silly, but rather because he had tried to interfere with me and that’s one thing I can’t stand. Anyway he was not very lovable, as you probably gathered, and when I could getaway from home I did. I still don’t know what on earth prompted me to come down here with you. I guess I was awfully high at Cambridge and it seemed like a fun idea. I regretted the whole thing the second I woke up on that train but it was too late to go back.” The butler interrupted the first serious talk I had ever had with Ellen and, by the time half a Scotch mist had given her strength to face the afternoon, she was herself again and our serious moment was over.
“What do you know about the Pomeroys?” I asked when the butler had disappeared.
“What everybody knows. They’re not that mysterious. He came to Talisman City in the late Thirties and set up a factory … I suppose he had some capital to start with … he manufactured explosives. When the war came along he made a lot of money and the factory grew very big and he grew with it, got to be quite a power politically. Then the war ended, business fell off and he lost his contract with the government, or so I was told yesterday.”
“By whom?”
“By my father.” She paused thoughtfully; then she swallowed the rest of the Scotch.
“Did he … did your father seem nervous to you?”
“You know, Peter, you’re beginning to sound like that police Lieutenant … only not as pretty.”
“I’ve got a job to do,” I said, and I explained to her about the
Globe
, told her that she had to help me, that I needed someone who could give me the necessary facts about the people involved.
“You’re an awfully fast operator,” she said.
“That makes two of us.”
She laughed; then she sat down beside me on the couch. “I’m afraid I’ve been away too long to be much help … besides, you know what I think or rather what I
don’t
think about politics.”
“I have a hunch that the murder doesn’t have anything to do with politics.”
“Your guess is as good as anybody’s,” said Ellen and she helped herself to another drink.
“What about Mrs. Pomeroy?”
“What about her?”
“What’s her relationship to your family … I gather she knew the Senator before she married Pomeroy.”
“That’s right. I remember her as a child … when I was a child, that is. She’s about twenty years older than I am, though I’m sure she’d never admit that, even to her plastic surgeon.”
“Plastic surgeon?”
“Yes, darling; she’s had her face lifted … don’t you know about those things? There are two little scars near her ears, under the hair.…”
“How was I supposed to see those?”
“
I
noticed them; I know all about those things. But that’s beside the point. She’s been around ever since I can remember. Her family were very close to
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